Jonathan Lewis and Mya Abi-Khalil co-authored a great post, 5 Things Clients Get Wrong About Consumers over at DigiDay. This post was written for the commercial world, but the model is equally valuable...
Uncovering Philanthropic Passion
Uncovering philanthropic passion sounds like a big job, doesn’t it? It isn’t, really—as long as you are a good listener, enjoy spending time with people and know how to build...
Creating a framework for major gifts
As the saying goes, "What gets measured gets done." And there's no way to measure your progress if you don't have it documented. Likewise, you've probably heard the addage, "You...
Rainmaking: The Fundraiser’s Guide to Landing Big Gifts
Two years ago my good friend Roy C. Jones and I had the bright idea to write a book designed to help fundraisers build better donor relationships and raise more...
Women Give 2012 Study
I ran across this Women Give 2012 (slightly dated) study comparing giving behaviors of women and men thanks to Gail Perry this evening. The study compared only single adult households...
Check out my guest posts at Christian Leadership Alliance
I'm honored to have a few recent posts featured on Christian Leadership Alliance's new blog. Go visit the CLA blog and check out my guest posts on Fundraising: Instinct vs....
The fundraiser’s spring cleaning checklist
It's that time of year again. Time to clean out your development operation, reorganize and re-prioritize your efforts and rid your organization of the fundraising clutter that keeps you from...
Mark Cuban’s advice for your nonprofit
Famed entrepreneur Mark Cuban once said, Make your product easier to buy than your competition or you will find your consumers buying from them, not you. What does Mark's advice...
Analyzing Your Direct Mail Campaigns (Tip #52)
There are many ways to evaluate your fundraising performance. Response rate. Average gift. Cost per dollar raised. Cost per donor. Those are all important metrics to track. But the one...
To Tease or Not To Tease (in your direct mail)? (Tip #51)
Blank outer envelopes tend to outperform envelopes with teaser copy or images. You don't have to clutter your appeal envelopes with all sorts of teaser copy. Sure, test teasers. But...